When Jason Heyward lined a bases-loaded, two-out single up the middle in the seventh inning to put the Braves ahead 4-1, the Turner Field pressbox shook from clapping, foot-stomping fans who got what they came to see, though not without some late-innings consternation.
Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run homer off David Carpenter in the eighth inning, but the Braves brought in closer Craig Kimbrel for a four-out save and a 4-3 win against the Dodgers Friday night, which evened their best-of-five division series at a game apiece before it shifts to Los Angeles.
“Tonight was a lot of fun,” said Heyward, who ranked the moment at the top in his baseball career. “I know our manager has got a different mindset sometimes than the players, but we all agreed on one thing — every night in the postseason is a must-win.”
The Dodgers put the potential tying run on base twice in the ninth on walks issued by Kimbrel. After A.J. Ellis walked with one out, catcher Gerald Laird threw out pinch-runner Dee Gordon trying to steal second base. And after pinch-hitter Andre Ethier walked with two out, Kimbrel struck out Carl Crawford to end the game.
“That’s our team this year — when we get down, we come back,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “J-Hey with a huge hit right there. I don’t think he’s ever had a bigger one in his life, than that one.”
Mike Minor won a pitcher’s duel with Dodgers starter Zack Greinke, and the Braves got all their runs on two-out hits by Andrelton Simmons in the second inning, Chris Johnson in the fourth and Heyward in the seventh. Heyward stroked a single past left-hander Paco Rodriguez after Reed Johnson was walked intentionally with first base open.
“No question, you don’t want to go to L.A. down two games,” said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez, agreeing with a reporter’s characterization of the game as a must-win. “You face Greinke after facing (Clayton) Kershaw last night. It was a big win.”
Gonzalez turned to Kimbrel for four outs for only the third time the major league saves leader’s career and second time this season. Kimbrel was well-rested and ready for the moment, as evident by eight of his 25 pitches registering 100-101 miles per hour on the stadium radar gun.
Chris Johnson has become known for wearing emotions on his sleeve, and when he pumped his fist while running to first base on a two-out, two-strike, go-ahead single in the fourth inning, the third baseman also conveyed the emotion of a crowd of 48,966 at Turner Field and many more Braves fans watching on TV.
Jubilation.
“It was really cool, just running down the bases and hearing the crowd go nuts was something I’ll never forget,” Johnson said.
And when Braves left-hander Luis Avilan fielded a comebacker with runners on the corners in the seventh inning, spun and threw to shortstop Simmons to start a splendid, inning-ending double play, Avilan’s scream to the heavens and the crowd’s thunderous ovation conveyed joy and something else.
Relief.
“That was the coolest moment of my life,” said Avilan, who threw to second for the double play even when catcher Brian McCann and Simmons were telling him to throw home for one out. “That definitely beat my MLB debut.”
There would be more stress before the night was through, but in the end the Braves rinsed out the bad taste of Thursday’s series-opening dud by coming through with a performance impressive in every aspect.
“It was nice to come out after last night and play really good baseball, and hopefully carry a little momentum going into L.A.,” Gonzalez said. “We got some big hits and were able to add on runs. We played good defense. Mike was outstanding.”
Game 3 is Sunday night at Dodger Stadium, and Game 4 is Monday. If the series goes the distance, Game 5 would be Wednesday (8:37 p.m.) at Turner Field.
Minor limited the Dodgers to eight hits and one run in 6-1/3 innings, with one walk and five strikeouts.
“We wanted to win the first game,” Minor said. “But I don’t think anybody came into this game thinking we were going to lose again. We all felt good today. We were relaxed and have a good vibe in the clubhouse prior to the game. Now we are feeling real good after this win.”
Minor gave up a run in the first inning and needed 40 pitches to get through the first two, then settled in and worked through the next 4-1/3 innings in 57 pitches before leaving with a runner on second and in the seventh.
He was replaced by Luis Ayala, who missed first base with his foot while covering on Michael Young’s groundball to Freddie Freeman, ruled a hit.
Ayala gave way to Avilan, who fielded a grounder back to the mound by the next batter, Crawford. Avilan didn’t hesitate in turning and firing to Simmons, and the gifted shortstop got rid of it quickly and threw to Freeman at first base for the double play.
“Any time you get a double play like that, it kind of kills momentum for the other side,” Heyward said.
Simmons had a fine all-around night, tying the score with his two-out double in the second inning and laying down a sacrifice bunt on an inside pitch with two on in the seventh. After Elliot Johnson struck out, Reed Johnson was walked to bring up the left-on-lefty matchup of Rodriguez vs. Heyward. J-Hey won, in more ways than one.
The hit came just over six weeks after Heyward was struck in the face by a fastball thrown by another lefty, the Mets’ Jonathon Niese. That pitch broke his jaw in two places, required surgery and landed him on the disabled list for 30 days. Heyward is wearing a protective guard attached to the right ear flap of his batting helmet.
“You always want to do something big when someone gets intentionally walked (in front of you),” Freeman said. “Based loaded and two outs, I don’t think any bigger situation (than) him coming through against a lefty, and a lefty hit him, so I think that’s big, that’s big for his confidence and we’re facing a lefty on Sunday (Hyun-Jin Ryu), so hopefully he can carry that over.”
Heyward said he understood walking Johnson with first base open.
“Playing the matchups, that’s what the postseason is about,” he said. “You go lefty-lefty there. Personally, I’m glad to have an opportunity to come through big for my team right there. Got a pitch to hit and I didn’t miss it.”
Minor trailed 1-0 after facing the first three batters of the game, allowing a Mark Ellis walk and Ramirez’s RBI double. It was a continuation of his issue in the regular season, when opponents hit .270 in the first inning and .225 after the first. The left-hander got ahead 0-2 in counts against both hitters and failed to put them away.
Minor worked around leadoff hits in the second, third and fourth innings, then struck out Juan Uribe swinging at a curveball with runners on the corners on an eight-pitch at-bat to end the sixth inning and protect a 2-1 lead.
“I felt like I was a lot more composed than I was when I was thinking about it all day,” Minor said. “I had a lot of anxiety. But when I went out there warming up it felt about the same. We had a big crowd and it was just a buzz when you get out there. It’s a lot easier for me to pitch with background noise than smaller crowds when you can hear some guy in the background yelling at you.”
Simmons’ two-out double in the second tied the score, and the Braves took the lead on Johnson’s two-out hit in the fourth against Greinke. The Dodgers right hander, who went 9-2 with a 1.57 ERA in his last 16 starts during the regular season, was charged with four hits and two runs in six innings Friday.
